


The Lord of Saturn's Rings

by Glory1863



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise, The Lord of the Rings (Movies)
Genre: Drabble Sequence, Episode: s01e12 Silent Enemy, Episode: s01e16 Shuttlepod One, Episode: s01e25 Two Days and Two Nights, Episode: s02e03 Minefield, Episode: s03e67 Harbinger, Episode: s03e69 Hatchery, Episode: s03e73 E2, Episode: s03e76 Zero Hour, Future Fic, Gen, Implied Future Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-18
Updated: 2013-04-18
Packaged: 2017-12-08 09:51:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/760009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glory1863/pseuds/Glory1863
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Welcome to a series of Reed-centric drabbles that mix the characters of <i>Star Trek: Enterprise</i> with the imagery of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> movies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Earth

**Author's Note:**

> The legend begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The legend begins.

For countless generations, the men of the House of Reed tilled the soil of the green shire of England.  It was all they knew.  They were content and took joy in it until a son was born who chafed at the pastoral life and sought adventure upon the sea. 

For generations following, the men of the House of Reed sailed on or beneath the sea in defense of the green shire of England until a son was born who yearned for adventure among the stars.  It was his destiny to defend the blue world.  He knew this in his heart.


	2. Precious - Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The origin of the One Ring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,  
> Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,  
> Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,  
> One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,  
> In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.  
> J. R. R. Tolkien

The being called “Daniels” could pass as human, though one could not say with certainty what he really was.  His people had conquered time but hadn’t conquered strife.  To mold the timeline to their liking, they’d fabricated rings of power.  Some they gave to elegant Vulcans with pointed ears, though that tribe split and some were lost to darkness.  Some they gave to Andorians, miners in a frozen land.  Some were given to humans of the bright blue world.  It was there that the One Ring that controlled them all slipped unfelt from his finger.  The precious thing was gone! 


	3. Precious - Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The One Ring comes into Reed's possession.

For four long, lonely years Reed studied at the Academy by the Bay.  He mastered all that was required of him and earned not a single demerit.  On a warm spring day he donned a dress uniform and received an officer’s commission, an ensign’s pip and a jeweled ring that caught the light and reflected it in a myriad of colors as though it were a living thing.  For this, he’d given up both family and home, and it was precious to him.  He wore it all that day, then put it safely away in the bottom of his kit. 


	4. Wraith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reed's first assignment with Starfleet could well have been his last as evil nearly overwhelmed him.

Reed’s first assignment was with Harris in a unit called The Section.  The weapons, gadgets, secrecy and danger appealed to him until the day he looked into a mirror and saw an old man looking back:  Worn black garments, gray shadows haunting blue eyes and pallid skin that never saw the sun.  The search for that which made the seen unseen drained life from him and tarnished the bright promise of the precious ring.  _Enterprise_ and its armory would be his salvation.  The spy master was livid when the transfer was approved, but Reed walked away without a backward glance.


	5. Fellowship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A long journey of many adventures is well and truly begun.

Reed had grown accustomed to working alone, to never having a place to call his home.  Now he was the protector of the ship, its crew and even of their worlds.  Despite his training, it nearly overwhelmed him. 

“I shall offer you logic,” said T’Pol.

“I’ll give you speed,” said Tucker.

“I’ll make you understood,” said Sato.

“I’ll get you where you need to go,” said Mayweather.

“I shall heal your wounds,” said Phlox.

“I’ll feed you pineapple,” said Chef.

Porthos barked and licked his hand in an unmistakable sign of trust.

“You see, Malcolm, you’re not alone,” said Archer.


	6. Wizards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reed begins to show how truly exceptional he is, but he's not the only one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for _Silent Enemy_.

When the alien attack came, Reed found his ship woefully undergunned.  They had parts and specifications for a phase cannon.  They could replicate, assemble and deploy the great guns themselves. 

He and Tucker were brilliant men, thus competition ensued, some friendly, some decidedly not: 

“You’re not hot-wiring your guns to my engine!”

“The risk is acceptable.”

“We can reroute the recoil energy to the gravity plating.”

When the aliens came back, they never knew what hit them.

A pineapple birthday cake and the captain’s praise was his reward.  He and Trip were wizards, and the cake was pretty “wizard”, too.


	7. Fireworks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who says a wizard must be serious at all times and can't have any fun?

Reed’s love of explosions was well known throughout the ship _._ There were those who doubtless thought him daft as he spent his free time fine-tuning phase pistols and upgrading the great phase cannons.  When on duty, he constantly checked and realigned the targeting sensors.  One fine evening, they came across an asteroid field.  The captain indulged his armory officer.

“You may fire when ready, Malcolm.”

Deft hands flew across the console.  Great streams of fire flowed from the ship.  The rocks broke apart in great flashes as brilliant as his smile, a smile mirrored on the faces of the crew.  


	8. Innocents Abroad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the great wide universe beyond the planet Earth, things are not always what they appear to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler for _Two Days and Two Nights_.

Commander Charles “Trip” Tucker, III, does not know the meaning of “discreet.”  His hideous taste in clothes demands that he be noticed.  He chats up anything female or anything appearing female as out here it’s sometimes difficult to tell.  He prattles on about Earth, _Enterprise_ and the warp drive heedless of whose ears might hear.  He thinks that all are friends.  And yet, there Reed was beside him, chained to a post in a dingy basement in his underwear.

He could just image Ambassador Soval hovering in the background in his gray robes taking it all in and clearly disapproving


	9. Insurmountable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The universe is a very dangerous place for young humans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler for _Shuttlepod One_.

Mind and body numbed.  Drifting.  Old lesson remembered.  Lose 3 degrees in temperature for every 1000 feet gained in altitude.  Hiking with Tucker in the misty mountains, higher, colder, into the clouds.  Beautiful like the Brecon Beacons back home but suddenly treacherous and dangerous like them, too.  Snow, such lovely large flakes, but falling faster, piling deeper.  They’d found a cave, ate, drank, reminisced and fought about who would go for help before deciding to die together.

“. . . pod 1, . . . _Enterprise_ _. . ._ read?”

It couldn’t be.  Only a dream.  They’d seen them dead. 


	10. Prophecy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reed comes to understand the price he may pay for being a man of destiny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler for _E2_.

“Will you look into the flame?” the beautiful woman with the delicately pointed ears asked.

“What will I see?” he replied.

“It is difficult to say.  The past.  The present.  That which may be,” she answered as she lit the great white candle.

Blue-gray eyes stared into the hypnotically wavering flame and saw another _Enterprise_ , but different, a generational ship.  Their Malcolm Reed had died alone, the last of his house.

“You were born to be the ring bearer, the protector.  It is your destiny.  You will always be alone,” T’Pol said without emotion though pain filled her dark eyes.


	11. Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even heroes may know despair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler for _Minefield_.

“Run,” Reed had screamed countless times before while covering their backs, taking the wounds meant for them and falling into a pit of darkness only to awake to sickbay’s bright light. 

This time, live ordnance pinned him to the hull, but the enemy demanded that they leave immediately nonetheless. 

“Detach this section of the hull and go, Captain.”

Archer wouldn’t listen, didn’t want to lose this man.

Reed was the protector.  It was his duty and his right to die to save them.  _I’ll make it easy for him_ , he thought.  “Run,” he whispered as he disconnected his oxygen supply.


	12. Rivalry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even allies have their issues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler for _Harbinger_.

Interservice rivalry was nothing new.  Back home, the debate had always been whether Nelson or Wellington was the greater.  Reed just hadn’t expected it here.  Then Hayes and his lumbering MACOs appeared.  They had all the finesse of a broadax.  Reed’s own people were fleet, elegant, true as arrows, perfectly capable of defending the ship alone.

It started small, as these things often do, but escalated from looks, to words, to fists and ended only when Dr. Phlox declared the injuries a draw.

Two things were gained in equal measure:  Archer’s anger and, curiously, a greater respect for one another.


	13. Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some monsters are real, but some are only in our minds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler for _The Hatchery_.

“That must have been ghastly, Trip.”  Reed knew Tucker had a thing about insects, starting with the palmetto bugs back home.  Of all the Xindi, he hated the insectoids the most.

“You should have seen the captain, Malcolm.  Those little roaches crawling all over him.  He was playin’ with 'em like they were his kids.  He had this big, goofy grin on his face.”

“So you stunned him?”

“Yeah, I did.  But you know what?  I kept imagining a mama roach the size of an asteroid coming to get the _Enterprise_.  We’ve got to get out of here now!”


	14. Wormtongue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Under the influence of evil, people may not be who you think they are. Nowhere is this truer than in The Delphic Expanse.

“I’m not in the mood, Mal.  Maybe some other time.”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Malcolm.”

“What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand, Reed?”

“You are dismissed, Lieutenant.”

Reed had thought Trip Tucker was his friend, that they could share each other’s burdens, lighten each other’s loads.  Clearly, he'd been mistaken. 

Had Reed’s father somehow known of the prophecy when he’d warned his son never to fraternize with a superior?  Had he tried to evade it altogether by demanding that his son join the Royal Navy?

_You are the ring bearer, the protector.  You will always be alone._


	15. Doom (Archer's POV)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They had faced countless dangers together to defeat this evil. Now, one must take the final step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler for _Zero Hour_.

Malcolm is always so ready to die.  Why doesn’t he understand that I need him to live?  He’s done all that he can for me.  I must destroy this weapon, even if it means my life.  It’s my duty.  His father would understand.  I rely on Malcolm to get Hoshi safely out of here.  I rely on him to get them all safely home.  T’Pol has the brains but not the touch for a human crew.  Trip can’t handle yet another loss.  Only Malcolm can hold them all together.

“Give me the charges and go.  I’ll be right behind you.”


	16. Doom (Reed's POV)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They had faced countless dangers together to defeat this evil. Now, one must take the final step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler for _Zero Hour_.

“Give me the charges and go.  I’ll be right behind you.”

I knew that he spoke false.  I’d tried to persuade him otherwise, yet it was never my way to disobey a direct order, and there was Hoshi’s safety to consider.

Why doesn’t the captain understand that he is the heart and soul of _Enterprise_?  T’Pol is brilliant, but not herself of late, and finds a human crew “most challenging.”  Part of Trip died with his sister; the rest will die with Archer.  I am expendable.  The death of Malcolm Reed would be no loss to anyone.  It is my duty.


	17. One Ring to Bind Them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reed at last uses the ring of power, but will it be for good or ill?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,  
> One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them  
> In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.  
> J. R. R. Tolkien

Evil was abroad in the distant border systems, the unnamed darkness moving ever closer to the bright blue world.  Admiral Lord Reed, for so he was now, stood before the softly glowing celestial map in the situation room, officers of the federated worlds beside him:  Fiery Andorian of the ice world, cold Vulcan of the desert world and argumentative pig-headed Tellarite. 

“It is agreed then?  We meet their fleet here.”  Reed pointed to the spiral nebula.  The ring of power on his left hand shown blood red in the dim light.

“Difficult, but yes.”

“Logical.”

“The debt will be repaid.”


	18. Final Haven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What remains for a ring bearer and protector once he's saved his world? What remains for an aging body no longer quite so fine?

Reed came back to Earth a hero, but heart, body, mind and soul he yearned for something he could not yet define. One warm spring day he donned the dress uniform now heavy with medals and gilt braid, wore the ring again on his left hand, and traveled to the Bay to board a ship with silver sails.

“You’ve done well, son,” said his father.

“Welcome aboard, sir,” said Hayes as the sound of the bosun’s whistle died away.

“Good to see you, Malcolm,” said Trip. “We couldn’t leave without you. This ship makes warp 10!”

He was finally home.


	19. Into the West

Reed was astonished by the number of people on the quay who’d come to see him off.  Archer, once his captain, now Federation president.  T’Pol who had forsaken the warmth of Vulcan for the warmth of human love.  Travis Mayweather, Hoshi Sato and a gaggle of children who called him “uncle” in languages too numerous to count.  Talla, child of the warrior Andorian and the peacemaker Aenar.  Was that Lorian, child of the other _Enterprise_ _?_   The ship sped into the sunset and soon sailed among the rings of Saturn.  Malcolm the ring bearer, the protector, had never really been alone.


	20. Truth of the Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Legends never die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> " _The Lord Of The Rings_ is a mythology. It is a fairy tale. It is an adventure story. It never happened, except somewhere in our hearts."  
>  Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf the wizard)  
> "A Passage To Middle Earth", a SCI-FI Channel Special

On an autumn day on an Iowa farm, a mother called her son. “James Tiberius Kirk, put down that PADD!  There are chores to be done!”  She couldn’t understand the boy’s fascination with the adventures of the old _Enterprise_ , Archer, Tucker, Reed and that Vulcan T’Pol.  They were half legend and half myth, if you asked her.

Kirk pressed the starter on the combine.  In his imagination, the warp drive engaged.  His folks were good people, but they just didn’t get it.  He yearned to fly among the stars.  He knew the stories were true, if only in his heart.


End file.
